Suspected militant dead in raid on hotel in Dhaka’s Panthapath

A suspected militant has been killed during a police counterterrorism unit and SWAT raid on a hotel in Dhaka’s Panthapath.

The man was a neo-JMB militant, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque told the media after inspecting the scene. Law-enforcement agencies received information regarding him during an investigation, he said.

“We did not hear any sound from the room during the raid. We asked him to surrender, but he didn’t. He set off a suicide vest and died.”

Law enforcement agencies had cordoned off Hotel Olio International near Panthapath’s Square Hospital early on Tuesday, said Kalabagan Police Station Sub Inspector Sarwar Hossain.

The hotel is only a short distance from the Bangabandhu memorial building where President Md Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, House Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and members of the cabinet went to commemorate National Mourning Day, the anniversary of the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

A loud explosion was heard around 9:45am, followed by the sound of gunfire. A portion of the building’s fourth storey collapsed and fell onto the road after the explosion.

Photographs from the scene show a body lying prone after the explosion.

A man, aged about 30, rented the room caught in the explosion on Monday night, Police Counterterrorism Unit chief Monirul Islam told bdnews24.com.

“According to the hotel registrar, the individual used the name Saiful Islam and claimed to have come from Khulna’s Dumuria. He studies at BL College in Khulna. We suspect he was the one killed.”

Saiful had been under surveillance for some time, Assistant Inspector General of police Md Moniruzzaman told bdnews24.com.

“He is a member of neo-JMB and was previously a member of Shibir. His father, Abul Khaer Mollah, is a Jamaat leader in Khulna.”

Islami Chhatra Shibir is the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami.

A one-kilometre stretch of road from Dhanmondi's Rasel Square to the Panthapath-Green Road intersection was blocked off for the raid.

A wounded individual was carried away from the scene soon after the explosion.

The victim had been attempting to withdraw money from an ATM machine, according to the Tejgaon Police Station OC Mazhar Hossain. A brickbat caught in the explosion struck him in the head, Hossain said.

A bomb disposal unit entered the fourth floor of the building around 10:45pm and are checking for explosives.